Mayor Mohamed follows a long-serving Muslim-American mayor as he risks his life abroad to bring humanitarian relief to Syria, and as he confronts Islamophobia at home in the U.S. When a Board of Education member shuts down Mohamed at a meeting by shouting, "This is not Sharia Law," and runs against him for mayor, it's not just Mohamed, but also a particular vision of American democracy that's on the ballot.
The Filmmakers
Jeffrey Togman
Director/Producer
Jeffrey M. Togman is an American filmmaker and political scientist. Togman's documentary We're Not Blood follows his own search for his birth parents, and explores broader issues of the politics of adoption in the United States. We're Not Blood had its world premiere at the San Francisco Documentary Festival, and its international premiere at the Portobello Film Festival in London. We're Not Blood was an official selection of the Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival, where it won the Best Dramatic Documentary Feature Award.
Togman's first film Home tells the story of Sheree Farmer, a mother of six who is trying to leave public housing and buy her own home. The film had its world premiere at the SilverDocs AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival (now AFI Docs), where it won a Special Jury Recognition Award. The documentary was an official selection of the Margaret Mead Film Festival. The New York Times called Home a "marvelously revealing documentary about the psychology of poverty." The film aired nationally on the Sundance Channel, and is distributed by Magnolia Pictures and Netflix.
Togman is a long-time member of the faculty at Seton Hall University, where he is associate professor of political science and film.
WORKSHOP Date
July/August 2019